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Gifts and gift funds

This resource provides guidance on gifts and gift funds, including their purpose, administration, and appropriate use.

Gifts Gift funds

Gifts

What is a gift?

Determining if funding qualifies as a gift is not always straightforward. The University has developed central guidance to aid units in distinguishing between gifts, sponsored awards, and service revenue.

Helpful links

What to do when receiving a gift

Gift processing is handled by Gift Services. Most gifts are sent by the donor directly to Gift Services or made online. If a unit receives a donation via check or hard currency, follow the instructions below.

Gift Services

Campus mail: Gift Services, Box 359505
Phone: 206-543-5241

Gift receiving instructions

General do’s and don'ts for handling gift funding

Do

  • Reach out to the advancement contact for your unit with questions.
  • Submit a gift transmittal form so Gift Services can quickly and accurately process the gift. Donors will include the name of the fund they want to support. Include the fund on the gift transmittal form.
  • Reach out to your advancement contact if a donor gives a gift to the UW without specifying the gift fund.
  • Forward all gift documentation (gift letter, envelope and any other pertinent documents) to Gift Services so that the donor's intent can be thoroughly understood for audit purposes.
  • Send gifts to Gift Services within 5 business days: Gift Services, Box 359505, 4333 Brooklyn Ave NE, Seattle WA 98195
  • Stay connected to Gift Services processes and procedures through the Gift Services Teams Channel.

Don't

  • Hold on to checks and cash in desks/drawers.
  • Hold on to checks and cash for longer than 5 business days.
  • Establish gift funds with naming rights and specific restrictions without contacting your advancement contact.

Gift funds

What is a gift fund?

Gift funds reside in both Workday (where they are referred to as “gifts”) and Tandem (where they are referred to as “funds”).

Workday gift funds

Gift funds reside in the university’s financial system (Workday) and are restricted for expenditures according to the fund designation or gift agreement. They are also referred to as Workday Gifts. These are not the same as Workday Funds (FNXX).

Tandem gift funds

Gift funds reside in the donor database (Tandem), with annotative information reflecting the financial system budget number (Workday Gift ID), a brief fund description, the school or department, and categorical information for fundraising progress reports. Also referred to as Tandem Funds.

Additional information on gift funds

How to create a new gift fund

Occasionally, a fund may need to be created to receive gifts for a new research area unless your unit funnels all research funds to a general research fund.

Please consult with your advancement contact before requesting a new fund. When you are ready to proceed use the New/Modify Gift Request online form, and copy your advancement contact.

  • Advancement contact: anyone in advancement you work with on gifts
  • Official Names:
    • Cannot contain the name of the donor(s) without a naming agreement
    • Cannot contain the name of a Principal Investigator (PI)
    • Cannot be the name of a specific research project
  • Reporting name is the alpha sort name. For an example, the reporting name for Harry Husky Fund would be Husky, Harry Fund.
  • New discretionary funds need Dean’s Office approval.
  • If the fund is not going to be a priority fund on your department website then you will need to explain how you will promote the new fund.
  • Funds should not be created to receive a single donation, unless future gifts are expected for the same purpose, or the donor has established a named fund.
  • If the fund is to support a specific researcher or research project you will be asked to provide more details, and your CFR or Strategic Initiatives contact should be cc’d. Funds can only support a general research area and not benefit a specific individual.
  • New funds will not be established simply to track expenses for a specific project. Instead, please use a stand-alone grant or other worktag combination (e.g. activity, assignee, etc.) for an existing gift fund for this purpose.

How to modify or close a gift fund

The New/Modify Gift Request online form can also be used to modify an existing current use gift fund (not an endowment or term fund). However, please contact advancement first before submitting your request and include their contact information on the form.

The following changes can be made (subject to approval) by selecting Gift Attributes to modify:

  • Fund Name
  • Fund Description
  • Tandem Restriction
  • Primary Purpose: describes the main restriction and is taken directly from the gift agreement or fund description
  • Online Searchable
  • Online Description
  • Cost Center
  • Endowment Cost Center

  • Function and resource can’t be changed because they are assigned when a gift is accepted and are used together in order for spending to align with donor intent.
  • Resource is one of your key indicators for how to spend the gift.
  • Fund types are aligned with the function codes that correspond to NACUBO classifications, which Treasury reports at the national level. For reference, view the NACUBO functional classification guide.
  • Some gift funds are nuanced and allow for multiple uses or perhaps were incorrectly assigned during the last financial transformation. If you determine that a resource or function worktag is inaccurate, please bring this to advancement’s attention.

Please contact advancement before:

  • Closing Fund in Tandem only
  • Deactivating Fund in Tandem and Workday

Page last reviewed on May 2026 and is reviewed annually.